


how it should have ended

by juyang



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Aliens, Alternate Universe, Epilogue, JKTW, Jeno Knows The World, M/M, Read the first, me trying to pretend im a writer, please dont hate me, spin off of twitter au, this is so bad im sorry
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-16
Updated: 2019-10-31
Packaged: 2020-09-02 00:16:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 12,522
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20266885
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/juyang/pseuds/juyang
Summary: this is the epilogue to a twitter au. link will be in the notes.jeno got left behind on an exploratory school field trip from his planet, since time works differently on jeno's planet than it does here, jeno has to wait 5 months until he can return home. in the meantime, cartoon otaku!jaemin thinks he's cute.





	1. beginning of the end

**Author's Note:**

> so uhhh long awaited and im sorry to say it highkey kinda sucks so hhhhh my bad but here. anyone who finds this via ao3, heres the link to the story because this is an epilogue it will NOT make sense as a standalone story. sorry for the shift in medium but it works better. 
> 
> https://twitter.com/mqrkhyuck/status/1002262638229934080?s=20

Remember that a REAL story never ends. Chapters end, maybe arcs finish and characters may die but that does not finish a story. For a real story does not have a perfect ending wrapped in a neat bow. For a real story doesn’t have to make perfect sense. For a real story is as chaotic as the life it tries to imitate. And life makes no sense.

But that does not make life nor the story meaningless. Remember that. 

While the story does not have an ending, it does have a beginning. It does not begin in a classroom, it does not begin in the woods. Instead it begins with the creation of the universe. In order to not overwhelm the puny human brains observing, the specific details will be glossed over. The universe was born, tiny and unassuming, until it grew and morphed, acquiring every type of living and non living being it could. 

Flash forward a few billion years or so to a hunk of metal hurtling towards the only planet capable of hosting life in its sector. The pilot had no choice but to escape there. This planet had many names given to it around the universe but soon the pilot would know it to be Earth.

She crash lands in the water, this planet was full of it, none of it drinkable. She had to think fast, her body was already adjusting to the gravity of this planet and if she didn’t dive out of her ship at the right moment she’d be dragged to the depths. Grabbing her Name and clutching it tightly in her palms, she escapes the wreckage. As soon as she dives into the water, she realizes a second problem. Her current form is denser than the water around her. She begins to sink and there was nothing she could do. The water muffles her thoughts and no matter how hard she squints, her trusty glowing eyes saw nothing. She closes her eyes and accepts her fate...

Until she feels something slippery and strange prod her back and a grateful, broken smile blooms on her face. The stars have come to her rescue. She reads the strange creature’s genetic coding and within seconds, her former transparent skin fades away into a gray slick rubber like texture. The need to breathe disappears as her new form appears to have stronger lungs. Unfortunately as her limbs disappear, her Name begins to fall to the depths. In desperation she dives after it, this new form was a fast swimmer, and she catches up to it in seconds. She swallows it for there was no way for her to carry it. She will deal with the extraction later. 

Now she had to get to land. Lucky for her the creature she has morphed to had an ability to see beyond that of the eyes. She lets out a sound and feels the vibrations come back. Land was near. She would make it. She would live. She would live. 

And so hours later she collapses on shore, turning back into her translucent self as the sand clings to her wet body. Her bright golden eyes scan the new surroundings, it wasn’t too different from other places she had seen but there were little subtle differences here and there. The sand beneath her was a pale yellow and the rising sun nestled at the horizon tinged the water blue and the sky pink. It was different, beautiful sure, but different. 

She cranes her neck to the side and has to bite back a scream when she sees it. A lifeless creature laying right beside her. It’s eyes open and cloudy. Lips blue, skin wrinkled and chest still. She gently touches the skin and confirms her suspicion. It was dead. The water in its lungs was too much to bear. 

She heaves a sigh and begins to strip its clothing off as well as any personal items it may have had. After stripping the body naked, she lays the body into a position. Finding a nearby twig, she traces a perfect circle around the body. Kneeling at the end of the circle, she closes her eyes.

“Stars and Void. Return this body to the sky where it can forever roam. I thank you for the sacrifice in balance. This life will not be in vain. I swear to honor it.” 

Her luminous eyes flicker open to see the body dissolve into what could only be described as stardust as the heavens answer her prayers and take the body up to the sky. 

A life for a life. The stars and space kept the balance like that. She was alive now because the stars allowed it but it did not come without a price. And the body that lay dead was in exchange for hers. 

She remembers the genetics of the body and begins to assume its shape. Skin going from transparent to corporeal and soft. Her chest gets heavy and between her legs form what can only be described as a complex reproductive organ. Her clean bulbous head begins to sprout fur like substance that reaches her chin. She reaches for the clothing she had earlier taken and tries to wear it the way she remembers the body had it on. 

After she’s done, she glances at the items left behind. There wasn’t much of importance. A necklace made of what appeared to be teeth and a leather folded pouch. She opens it up and recognizes the writing as Human-Hangul. Thank god, she had taken that elective on Human languages. It takes her a while to decipher it, being a little rusty.

“Jung Yisoo.” 

She flips through the plastic rectangles which were riddled with numbers and all had the name Jung Yisoo written on them. Except for 2. These were written in a different alphabet. The Human-Latin one. Damn. She was bad at that one so it takes her a little longer to read.

“L-Lowura. No. No. Laura. Laura Jung.”

Peculiar. Humans carried their names in these leather pouches? And why did they have two? Was she Yisoo or Laura?

She dumps the plastics rectangles out and closes her eyes in concentration.

“Stars help me decide who I must be.”

She opens her eyes to stare at the plastic cards scattered on the sand. Minutes past and right before she gives up, a card twitches. She flips it over before smiling.

Laura Jung comes back from the dead that day to a terrified but grateful sister and disgruntled brother-in-law. She cannot understand a word they were saying and the men in the white coats had assured her new family that it was all fine. She caught the word ‘amnesia’ and ‘trauma’. Still, she had a new life now and when no one is looking she glances up at the sky where the real Laura Jung lies and she thanks her every night.

* * *

The second time a ship lands on this planet was nothing like the first. It was sleek and comfortable, nothing made to hurriedly transport someone across the galaxy. It was a vessel of comfort and respect for in it was traveling a prisoner. Not that he was ever called that. Oh no no no, he was simply “an individual whom elected by the council to carry out his days away from society”. 

Prior to contrary belief, Somerians did not take pride in killing one of their own not even one as lowly as him. The day Kuyya stumbles on highly sensitive information is the day he had to say goodbye to the only life he had ever known. The guards had shoved him in a room and he was given two choices: die or leave.

It didn’t take a rocket scientist to decide the better of the two choices but, honestly speaking, the decision wasn’t immediate. He had... considered it after seeing that information. He wasn’t sure if life was worth living after that.

So he was taught the language of the place he’d be going to, was given a new name and a functioning ID once landed. For a week, Somerian forces stayed with him, helping him adjust but the heartbreak of never seeing his friends and hive again got to him. He swore to live a life of solitude.

A couple years later he met the strangest pair of friends. A Korean boy who was the living embodiment of a cup of hot chocolate and a Japanese hot headed college student who wanted to see the world burn. And like an idiot he fell for one of them. So much for living a life of solitude for it was no match for Jaehyun’s honey drizzled smile.

So Kuyya- Qian Kun’s life begins to change for that of the better. Jaehyun shows him around Korea, sites he never bothered for when his life was nothing but misery. And little by little, he can forget why he’s here. He can forgive himself. Until  _ he _ gets here. 

The fact that Kun couldn’t sense his arrival already frightened him, his senses were being dampened. What’s more is that it’s a Kitar. Kun isn’t sure what to think of at first, for the way the Kitars were upheld but it took him a second to realize that they weren’t on Somer. And this boy was distraught over a human no less. So he took him under his wing. What else could he do? This would be the closest thing he could have to family. And for the first time in a long time, Kun felt like Kuyya again.

Saying goodbye to Jevokitar had been one of the hardest things he had to do since he left Somer but he was going to be okay. Jaehyun had reminded him of that, kissing away the tears that were shameful in his old society. He’d be alright and so would Jeno.

* * *

The third time a ship lands on this planet was somewhat like the first. A racing vessel with nowhere to go, transporting a scared child. Eventually he finds his way over to the orb of blue floating in the darkness. Like a beacon of hope after the horrors he had seen. His own blood, slaughtered before him. HIs descent was chaos, the hull creaking with age and wear and it didn’t take a specialized mechanic to figure this was the last trip this shuttle would make. Hisen feels himself crash. He really feels it and had the hull not had nanobots in the air cavity that regulate oxygen and heal damaged tissue, he probably wouldn’t have survived. But he lay in the darkness of the dying ship as he feels his broken body slowly begin to heal with the hum of the invisible robots digging into his skin. It had hurt. Of course it did but he wasn’t paying attention. All he could see when he closed his eyes was his Bloodgiver and Birther shoving him into an escape pod as his home burned around him. 

The last coherent thought he had that day was a vow for revenge. His people’s pain would be heard even if he died doing so. 

He was awoken, 3 nights later, with a sore body but nonetheless, a healed one. He clambers out of the wrecked hull. His surroundings were green. Green here, green there, oh a little splash of brown, but mainly green and green. Was this System 86-3? His Birther had set a course furthest from the war. System 86-3 was the only planet capable of holding life so far away from the Center of Life. Plus it, uh, matched the description. A blue orb with one moon with plenty of green and the air smelled absolutely disgusting. This  _ had  _ to be System 86-3. 

As he shoves the hull away from the tall green things for he didn’t want to destroy innocent life with the blast radius, Hisen begins to worry. If this was System 86-3, their technology was too primitive to let him leave the System 86 and get back to his quadrant of life. How was he going to avenge the deaths of his people, of his birthers and givers? He looks at the dead ship. If he could repair it then  _ maybe _ . But Hisen was no mechanic, he lived a pampered life, studying the arts instead. And the hull was too damaged, he wouldn’t even know where to begin even if he could figure it out. He couldn’t risk this technology being found by the locals either, it was too advanced for them. A dead Kahin ship to them could advance their species well beyond their capabilities. Even if the parasites who burned his home didn’t find the locals at all beneficial to their conquest, he wouldn’t take that risk. Enough races had died because of these vermin, Hisen wouldn’t expedite the process. He had to destroy the ship.

And so he did. With one planet-shattering  _ BOOM _ , Hisen watches his last hope at returning back to the rest of the universe implode on itself as it was reduced to nothing but ash. He wants to collapse and cry but he had a bigger issues to worry about. One being a nosy kid, eyes wide and mouth open holding a strange black contraption in his hands. The child was clearly a local and Hisen was pleased to see it was similar looking to him. A little paler with odd gray hair but very similar. 

Hisen was about to alter his memories when he realized how hungry he was. 3 days of not eating, even if the days were shorter here, time was still affecting his body. He needed sustenance and maybe the boy would have some use after all. They couldn’t communicate in the same tongue but Hisen’s thoughts transcended even language. He gave himself to this boy who gave himself back and soon all that mattered was thought. At first the boy, Kim Jungwoo he learns, had been more than confused but he had been calm, thanks to Hisen’s calming thoughts and soothings. And soon, Hisen had himself a loyal partner. For if Jungwoo brought him food and taught him the language then Hisen would show him more and more of the universe and Jungwoo had an insatiability for knowledge. 

It worked out. 

More and more time past and soon Hisen started to pick up the language, a little broken at first but it was working. He could say hello and goodbye. He could read, he found Hangul extremely easy. He even taught Jungwoo some of his language and Jungwoo thought it sounded like German. And thats when it started. 

Hisen was tired of living in the forest, he wanted to see the world Jungwoo talked about. Jungwoo wasn’t so sure. He thought Hisen needed more practice in Korean or else people would think he was a foreigner. Hisen couldn’t help but pout and wonder what was wrong with people thinking he was a foreigner. 

Jungwoo couldn’t give him a proper answer. 

“You look East Asian so we gotta make you from East Asia.”

“But I cannot speak another East Asian language.”

“No but you could be born and raised in Germany. There’s barely any German speakers here, you could get by. But ethnically, how does Chinese sound? A German Chinese?”

Hisen shrugs, something Jungwoo taught him in times of indecisiveness. “I don’t care.”

“Then it’s settled. Can I name you?”

Hisen cocks his head. “Name me?”

“Yeah! Well you can’t be ‘Hisen’ it doesn’t sound like a Chinese name.”

“Fine!” Hisen crosses his arms, this was apparently a universal way of showing petulance. “What shall I be called then?”

Jungwoo grins. “Li Yifeng?”

“No.”

“Liu Ye?”

Hisen glares at him. “Are these those Chinese actors you like so much?”

Jungwoo blushes and looks away. “Shut up.”

Hisen rolls his eyes. “I like the Liu part.”

Jungwoo perks up. “How about Yangyang? He’s one of my favorite actors.”

“Liu Yangyang.” Hisen tests it on his tongue. “Huh, I like it.”

“Liu Yangyang it is- Hisen? Hisen, are you okay?”

Hisen had gone very still, eyes dark and face terrified. 

“Hisen? Hisen, what is going on?”

Hisen tells him to shush and grabs his hand, letting his thoughts flow into him. 

_ Run away. Run away now. _

Jungwoo looks terrified now. 

_ What about you? _

_ Jungwoo, run.  _

Jungwoo gets up and darts off. Hisen had given him an extra jolt of fear, he hopes it will carry Jungwoo very far away. He had grown to feel some fondness for the child. 

Hisen gets up and begins to track the source of his troubles until he sees them. A group of them. They’re young by first glance, led by an elder. There were no weapons nor any ill intent in any of their feelings from what Hisen could sense. He quickly shields up his emotions in case there were any empaths among them. No true empaths but still the parasitic race had tricks up their sleeves. 

Hisen climbs up a tall green thing- he briefly remembers Jungwoo calling it a tree- and nestles in its arms- branches- and watches. 

Two of the parasites begin to argue and Hisen watches with disbelief as one of them tries to hurtle a stone at the other using nothing but their telekinetic ability. The one attacking gets stopped by the elder and scolded harshly. The one who was being attacked looks uninterested even as he takes a nasty berating from the other one after the elder had left. 

Hisen studies him. He had hair dark as the iris of an eye, his sharp features made him rather beautiful looking in both Earth culture and everywhere else. His eyes held a certain amount of intelligence and he carried himself in away that demanded respect. 

Hisen hates him immediately. 

He tried to do his best to pick up on the language but he was a little rusty in his oppressors’ tongue. He caught one thing though. 

“ _ The ships leave after their Sun sets. Make sure to be in your respective ship before then.” _

And so Hisen devises a plan. He sneaks off to find the ships. He’d steal one and ride it back to the universe and from there, he’d rally his people and all those who were affected by the conquest. Simple. 

If only. 

Hisen had never seen more advanced hulls. A simple white ovular looking ship. Hisen couldn’t even find a way in, much less know how to control it. So he panics and decides to break it. He manages to find the outer control panel and tugs at any wire he can. Anything to make this faulty and crash. If he couldn’t avenge his planet, he’d at least take down a couple of them. But before he could move on to the next ships, the elder makes his way back to the ships and Hisen is forced to retreat. 

He curses himself for being so stupid. If only he had been a mechanic. 

Night falls and the children board the ships. Of course the one Hisen dislikes boards his tampered one. Oh well, at least the smug looking parasite would die. He could live with that. 

But he doesn’t. All ships rise without an incident and fly off into the heavens, leaving Hisen and his rotten soul behind. He can’t help but choke out a sob. It wasn’t fair. It just wasn’t fair.

Until he spots a flash of white and red, hurtling towards him. 

Oh.

OH.

The ship crashes into the ground, skidding across the forest floors before falling into a ditch of sorts where it continued to roll. Hisen can’t believe it. His plan… worked? Kind of.

He makes his way down (which takes a rather lengthy time as it traveled a distance) to the hull and stares at it for a while. Was the passenger… dead?

There is a loud bang and expletives in the oppressors’ tongue which startles Hisen into jumping back. This was insane! He had taken down a Somerian ship and a Somerian as well. Now to kill him and ride the ship back to the Center of Life!

But, unfortunately, fate had a better idea. 

“We’re in the middle of the damn woods, Xuxi!”

Crap. Humans. 

Hisen throws himself against the darkness of the ditch and focusing all his energy into being absolutely undetectable. Even if the humans laid eyes on him, they’d immediately forget. No one would notice him. 

Hisen watches as 3 humans approach the hull. For the longest time, they fight, terrified but then one of them does the absolute unthinkable: he frees the Somerian. 

Hisen wants to cry but if he moves, he’ll be spotted and he doesn’t have the energy to fool all of them AND a Somerian on top of that. So he remains completely still until the 4 walks out of the ditch and he narrowly escapes before the Somerian, Jeno as they named him, buries the hull. 

His plan was a failure. He was a failure

Jungwoo was there to rectify his thoughts though. 

“You haven’t failed. You said ‘Xuxi’, right? I know him- if that is him. If he knows where the Somerian is and I know where he is then well, you might still have a chance. Don’t give up.”

Hisen looks at Jungwoo with grateful eyes. “Thank you, good friend. You’ve saved me.”

Jungwoo smiles at him. “We’ve saved each other.”

* * *

The fourth time a ship lands on Earth, well, we all know what happened from there. 


	2. revelations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the answers are finally here, and they're not good.

Qian Kun pulls out the keys from the ignition before laying back into his seat, letting out a sigh. 

He could back out. He could drive right back to Seoul, straight into Jaehyun’s arms and forget about this. He could continue to be Qian Kun instead of Kuyya. He could. 

But he doesn’t think he could live with himself anymore. He had to tell someone and he could start with a victim.

Kuyya exits the car and looks up at the Inn he stayed at only two days ago. 

Oh well, he’d better get this over with. 

* * *

“Goodbye,” the Somerian breathes, as soon as his lips part from his lover’s. 

Said lover looks at him like he fell from the sky, which he most definitely did. 

“Say it back,” the boy urges, looking as desperate as he probably felt. 

His lover looks down, taking a deep breath before looking back up, eyes serious. 

“Goodbye.” 

Eivert, Yangyang has to fucking gag. This was embarrassing to watch. Couldn’t anyone else see that the parasite was stringing them all along? Falling for a human? Ingenious. Yangyang hadn’t seen that coming. But it seems he’s the only one who sees through the parasite’s tricks. Even Jungwoo fell for it. 

He watches them kiss one more time before they finally part. Yangyang can’t help but feel bad for the human. He didn’t know he fell for a monster. 

But finally Yangyang sees the flash of light beyond the trees and he grips his sword tight. (“Is this why you needed my Amazon?” Jungwoo had asked him when he first saw it.)

Speaking of Jungwoo, Yangyang regretted their fight earlier but he was being ridiculous. 

* * *

Jungwoo had requested a meeting by the lockers, during lunch and who was Yangyang to refuse? This was their last day together. 

“Hello!” Yangyang grins when he sees him. “What did you want to talk about?”

Jungwoo looks worried and immediately Yangyang can sense the guilt and sadness in him.

“Yang, this has gone on long enough. Please, I'm begging you. Give up this crazy dream. You’re gonna get yourself killed or worse, you’re gonna get someone else killed.”

Yangyang rolls his eyes. “That’s the point! The whole plan comes to fruition. I’ll kill the Somerians and fly back to the Center of Life and then find a way to free my people.” 

The elder grabs his hand. “Please. Stay for me. Jeno is a good person. He doesn’t deserve this-“

Yangyang recoils in disgust. “A person? You think he’s capable of being a person? Jungwoo, his kind slaughtered my people in front of me!”

“But it wasn’t him! And look at him, he’s in love with a human. He doesn’t deserve this.”

Yangyang cackles. “Of course the parasite got to you too! I should’ve known. They taint everything. Even you.”

Jungwoo clenches his fists. “Yangyang, this is your last chance to stop!”

“You could never understand why I’m doing this!”

Jungwoo stops to take a breath before responding but stops when he makes eye contact with someone behind Yangyang. Yangyang feels his fear and he quickly blocks all his emotions, before turning around to confirm his suspicion. Sure enough, the parasite himself was standing there donning an expression of mock-concern. 

Yangyang quickly walks away, not willing to risk his cover being blown the day it mattered the most but he can hear the invader ask Jungwoo if he was okay. 

_ Eivert, he was good.  _

* * *

Kuyya doesn’t know what to do or how to knock when the door swings open to Laura’s smiling friendly face.

“Kun! I saw your car pull up and I had to check if it was you! Coming back for a getaway already?” She laughs.

Kun gives her an awkward smile. “Uh, hey Laura. I wanted to talk.”

Her smile drops. “Are you okay?”

Kuyya’s smile fades and he gets on his knees before bowing completely, his head at her feet. “Please forgive me.”

Laura gasps before trying to grab him off the floor. “Don’t be ridiculous. What are you doing-“

Kun looks up, a tear falling from his left eye. “My name is Kuyya and I come from Somer.”

Laura’s entire expression changes and her face shifts from one of confusion to disgust.

“Get away from me! Get away from me right now!”

Kuyya collapses back on the floor, on his knees, back hunched over. “Please forgive me.”

Laura glowers at him. “Is this a trick? Are you here to drag me back to prison?”

Kun looks up in confusion. “Prison? You’re a criminal?”

Laura cocks her head. “Okay, if you’re not here to arrest me, what are you doing?”

The Somerians flushes red. “Um, apologizing?”

She raises an eyebrow. “Apologizing for what? For being Somerian?”

He nods before shaking his head. “Yes. I mean, no. I mean-“ He sighs. “You are a Kuju, right?”

She nods. “How did you figure it out?”

Kun points at the ring hanging from her neck. “Your Name.”

Her hands fly to the object in question. “You know?”

Kun nods. “And I know more. I have to tell you the reason I was banished. Just to let someone else know.”

“You were banished?”

“Yes. It’s a long story.”

Laura sighs. “As long as you’re not here to arrest me. Come inside and for god’s sake get off the floor!”

* * *

His plan was almost into fruition. Jeno had insisted on meeting his caretaker alone. The others had complained at first but when the alien explained that his caretaker might  _ literally  _ kill them, they gave in. With quick hugs from everyone, two extremely long ones from the lover and the one who called himself Mark, and, finally, an excruciatingly long group hug, Yangyang was overjoyed to see Jeno walk off alone towards the source of light.

He clutches his sword tighter, keeping a distance between them as he follows him. He makes sure Jeno can’t sense any type of emotion and makes sure his footsteps are light. 

He’s deciding when’s the right time to strike when Jeno disappears into a tree. Yangyang blinks. He had just saw-

The sword is flung out of his hand and embedded into a tree behind Yangyang. He turns around and is face to face with his target but Yangyang suddenly feels like he’s the target instead.

Jeno has a hand outstretched towards him.

“Talk. Who are you?”

“Liu Yangyang.”

Jeno shakes his head. “Who are you really?”

Yangyang’s quiet at that.

“Why were you following me?”

Silence.

“Why can’t I sense your emotions? Are you Somerian?”

“No!” 

Jeno cocks his head. “What are you then?”

Yangyang scoffs. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”

Jeno nods. “Yes, please.”

Yangyang stares at him incredulously. “You’re kidding? I’d rather die than tell you anything.”

Jeno narrows his eyes. “I can make that promise.”

“Do it then. Kill me.” 

_ Prove me right. _

Jeno shakes his head. “I don’t kill defenseless people.”

Yangyang smirks at the lie. “Then give me the sword. Let’s see how defenseless I am then.”

Jeno blinks at him, his features mimicking sadness. “Were you trying to kill me?”

Yangyang stares at him. “Give me the sword.”

“I’m trained in almost every combat known to Somerians,” Jeno says, levitating the sword back into Yangyang’s hand before getting into a fighting stance.

“Yeah, well, I  _ really _ want to kill you.” And with that Yangyang charges.

* * *

Kun takes a sip of the tea Laura had forced into his hand. (“Somerian or not Somerian, tea is for everyone.”) 

“Where to begin?” He mutters to himself.

“How about the banishment?”

Kun shakes his head. “No, that’s much further on.” He looks up, eyes bright. “I know! I’ll tell you what we’re taught on Somer since the moment we’re hatched.”

Laura cocks her head. “What?”

Kun waves his hand. “Trust me. It’s important. You see, since the moment I was a crawler, my caretaker would tell me stories. Stories of the first Somerians.

“We were a proud ancient race and we gained our powers by spreading and showing others the power and generosity of Somer. Those people would bestow powers upon the original Guardians, and then colonies formed, the population increased. From then on, we’ve invited many different species to live with us on Somer and being around those people allowed their species ability to be passed down to the second generation. Do you understand?”

Laura furrows her eyebrows in confusion. “But that’s not true.”

Kun nods. “I know. But I’m telling you this is what the general population is taught. It’s only until I stumbled in on the truth was I banished.” 

“The truth. The truth of what Somerians truly are and what they’ve done to the Center of Life?”

Kun nods. 

Laura toys with her ring while biting her lip. “You’re telling me that the general population of Somer has no idea what’s going on.”

“Yes, pretty much."

“And those that figure it out are banished?”

"And/or killed.”

Laura shakes her head. “What about the military? Don’t they know?”

Kun cranes his head in thought. “Well, yes and no.”

Laura just stares at him. 

“I wasn’t sure until Jeno.”

“Jeno!?” Laura exclaims, looking excited. “ I had my suspicions but I didn’t want to believe it. What are the odds that there were 3 aliens living in such close vicinity?” She looks up. “Do you think there’s more nearby?”

Kun shrugs. “Doubtful.”

* * *

Yangyang falls on his back, before rolling over to his side to ignore what might’ve been an almost fatal strike to the head. Jeno shakes his head. 

“You’re going to tire yourself out, try to stay on your feet when you dodge. Don’t exert energy you don’t need.”

Yangyang lets out a gasp of air before glaring at him. “Are you,” _ gasp, _ “trying to teach me?”

Jeno shrugs. “It’s clear you have no fighting experience. You were probably taught self defence for the gist of it but never had to use it. You’re from a wealthy planet. Are you Rotoan?”

Yangyang lunges for him, sword slashing but Jeno dodges and continues talking. “No, Rotoans have a flight ability, you would’ve ambushed me from the sky by now. Maybe Kuju?”

“Fight me, coward!” 

Jeno sighs. “I really have to be somewhere soon. Can we just call it a draw?”

“You must pay for your crimes!” Yangyang cries out, trying to stab him and Jeno’s eyes widen as he disarms him. 

“Crimes? Me?”

Yangyang’s trying to punch him now to no fruition as Jeno weaves back and forth, effortlessly dodging each strike. 

“I haven’t committed a crime.”

“But your kind has.”

Jeno snorts. “Are you part of the resistance then? Not a wealthy planet. Hmm, a Kavrok?”

Yangyang sees red. “I’ll kill you!”

“Will you, though?” Jeno grins. “Just because were on opposite sides doesn’t mean we have to fight. You can’t be older than me. Our ancestor’s fight isn’t ours yet.”

“This IS my fight!” While Jeno is distracted he grabs the sword and lunges at him again. Jeno’s eyes widen and he moves to dodge it but it’s too late. Yangyang’s so close- 

And then he’s thrown back, an invisible force pushing him against a tree, his feet levitating from the ground. 

Yangyang’s eyebrows furrow. How did Jeno block him?

But when he looks at the young Somerian, he seems equally as confused. If it wasn’t Jeno then- oh fuck.

Two figures emerge from the trees, one had his arm stretched out towards Yangyang giving him a fierce glower while the other ran towards Jeno before leaning their foreheads together in comfort. They’re not talking but Yang knew the majority of the parasites were mutual-telepathic. 

“Ka fero?” The one facing Yangyang growls out and Yangyang manages to translate it for the demanding of his name.

“Yuk.”  _ No. _

It was the wrong answer because the parasite narrows his eyes and reaches out to touch Yangyang, who was trapped in the invisible force. The minute their skin touch Yangyang screams. The pain was nothing like he had ever felt before yet it only lasts for a second. 

When Yangyang comes back to terms with his surroundings, body aching, he sees Jeno’s back to him in a heated argument with the one who touched him.

“Maku fa!”  _ He’s a kid! _

“Ka tere fa!”  _ He hurt you! _

_ “ _ Yuk, madelri fa. Tereyu’ da.” _ No, he only fought. I have no injuries. _

“Ka de tere fa! Huju da!”  _ He tried to hurt you! I saw! _

Jeno sighs. “Se delri’ da.” _ Let me fight my own battles. _

The man still looks upset but he clearly is in a lower rank than Jeno because he bows to him. 

Jeno turns around to look at Yangyang who didn’t have the energy to glare at him, but Eivert did he want to.

“I’m sorry,” Jeno says in Korean, the tongue they both share due to their time on this miserable rock. “I did not know he would touch you.”

“Fuck off. And tell him to fuck off.” Yangyang spits at the parasite who hurt him.

“Heqe fo fa,” Jeno says to him.  _ He has a saliva condition. _

Yangyang snorts. “You’re funny for a murderer.”

Jeno cocks his head. “I haven’t killed anyone yet.”

Yangyang lets out a broken laugh. “ _ Yet _ . So you know you will.”

Jeno’s quiet at that before he looks up. “What did we do to you?” He whispers.

“What did you do to  _ me _ ?” Yangyang smiles, tears streaming down his face. “What  _ didn’t _ you do to me? You took away my home. You took away my parents. You took-“ He sobs out. “You took away _everything_.”

He glares up at them. “It’s all your fault. Do the universe a favor and die.”

Jeno dumbly blinks at him. “What on Zodin are you talking about?”

Yangyang starts laughing. “Stop pretending! You know! You can drop the innocence act! Your boyfriend’s not here.”

Jeno’s face turns dark. “You know Jaemin?”

Yangyang nods. “Didn’t Jungwoo tell you? There’s nothing going on in that school that I don't know about. I can smell your fear. You’re worried. You think there’s more. You think he’s in danger. Well, you’re right! Let me go or else my men will-”

Jeno shakes his head. “ _ You’re an empath _ .” Realization clouding his voice. 

“Didn’t you hear me? Your boyfriend is going to die!”

Jeno gives him a look. “You seriously expect me to believe Jungwoo is okay with killing Jaemin? Or that ‘your supposed men’ would let such an untalented fighter like you kill me off? You would’ve used Jaemin to weaken me if you had him. You don’t have him. Don’t lie to me.”

Yangyang’s jaw snaps shut. Fuck, he was good.

“Malka mo fa?” The smallest one asks. 

“Malka te da, shh.” Jeno shoos him before turning back to him. 

“What happened to your planet?”

Yangyang is shaking. “I-it was a peaceful day. There was no warning. Nothing, not a word. And then your people descended from the skies and without provocation they began to slaughter.” 

Jeno’s eyes widen. “No. We would never. Proper colonial protocol calls for a declaration of war.”

Yangyang laughs. “Is that what you think?” 

* * *

“Jeno or rather, Jevokitar, is the descendant of the Kitar hive. A military hive. The best actually. All the great generals have been Kitars. We are a race that conquers. We give a notice to weaker planets that we will share our prosperity but they must submit, and if they fail we take them by force. It’s controversial but legal within the galactic war rules. The thing is-“

“-that’s not what actually happens,” Laura finishes for him. 

Kun nods. “This is what’s told to the people and it’s what’s the United Intergalactic Quadrant tells the other planets. But it simply isn’t true. Somerians aren’t proud brave conquerors. We’re pillagers. We’re thieves. We don’t spread our prosperity. We desecrate a planet and then we steal its greatest asset: its people.”

Kun looks down at his hands in shame. “We,” He shudders in disgust. “We breed them. Into our genepool. It’s disgusting, it’s foul. For what? To get stronger. To absorb their abilities and once we have no use for them- well, it’s not good. We keep the kids alive. A few of them. Put them into our society to keep up the cover but they’re just tools, ignorant of what we did to their parents. We’ve done it so many times that our birthing process isn’t even natural anymore. We’ve done it so many times we’re now allergic to mating with other species. Now, we don’t even bother natural mating. We steal their genetic code and splice it into ours.”

“Allergic? But you and Jeno both have partners.”

Kun blushes. “Oh well I reverse engineered a vaccine using Jaehyun’s DNA and well Jeno’s advanced homeostasis allowed him to adapt faster to his conditions. Once his body realized he was prone to ,um,  _ consuming _ some human DNA. It just… adapted.”

Laura nods. “And why are you telling me this?”

Kun sighs. “I needed to… tell someone. I didn’t tell Jaehyun because I didn’t want him to see me like some monster and I doubt he’d ever really understand the gravity of the situation. They’re all removed from that kind of situation. Most people can’t even grasp how unimportant they are, to hear of such gala-political events. It’s just… it’s hard.”

He looks away. “But everyday, I hated myself. I couldn’t believe I was a part of something like that. That I am a product of that. Do you realize my existence is the product of so many species’ sufferings? I do. Constantly, everyday. It’s torture.”

“Why not tell Jeno?”

Kun sighs. “I was! I was so surprised to see another Somerian on Earth. But he was crying in a human shop over a human boy. Somerians do not allow themselves to cry in front of those that aren’t their kind. It’s a sign of submission which is very taboo in our culture. He must’ve been afraid when he realized I was Somerian. Luckily, I didn’t believe in any of that, at least, not anymore. And the more I got to know him, the more I couldn’t bring myself to shatter his world.” Kun rubs at his eyes. “Me? I’m a medic. I heal people, I save people. Jeno? Jeno was raised a warrior. He was next in line as a great general. He was made to conquer and terrorize. If I told him the only reason for his existence was to rape and commit mass genocide. I couldn’t-“ He chokes. 

Laura pats his hand. “I get it.”

They’re quiet for a while. 

“You needed to tell someone. Someone who understood and someone who was wronged. Someone like me.”

Kun nods. “I know the Kuju stayed out of Somer’s reach. We never gained shape shifting abilities. But still we have warred. That takes tolls on planets and the people.”

Laura looks somber. “I was a street rat on my planet. We had famine and we had mass homelessness. But still we were a powerful force. Our terrain is rough and the people even rougher. I used to steal gold from other planets and one day, I got caught. Big time. The punishment was death so I hopped on a pod and hit the closest planet with life outside of the Center of Life. And well, here I am. God, it’s been so long. But not so long to them.”

Kun thinks about it must’ve only been a year or so for his hive while he’d been here for 5 years already. Time was insane.

“Anyway,” Kun moves to get up, “I should get going.”

She frowns. “Nonsense, it’s late. You can crash in one of the rooms.”

“No, I couldn’t do that you.”

Laura reaches out to hold his hand. “Kun, it’s okay. There’s nothing to forgive. It’s not your fault. Okay? Say it with me: it's not your fault.”

Kun’s lips tremble and he lets out a shaky breath. “It’s not my- fuck, I can’t.” 

“It’s okay. You were holding it in for a while. But it’s not your fault. It’s not Jeno’s fault either. And you’re not a bad person for not telling him. You’re a kind person. We’ll get through this, okay?”

“We?” He looks surprised.

She gives him a smile. “Of course. You think you were going to just tell me you’re an alien too and then go fuck off? Nope. We have each other now. You help me and I help you. Besides that Yuta boy is a straight riot. You must bring him around more.”

Kun lets out a wet laugh. “Okay, I will. Thank you, Laura. I can see why you’re Hyuck’s favorite aunt. Speaking of that, how did that happen?”

Laura smiles. “Let me make some more tea and then I’ll tell you all about it.”

* * *

“Did either of you know?!” Jeno screams as Hender and Ten flinch. 

“No! How do we even know he’s telling the truth? It sounds ridiculous,” Hender scoffs. 

“Ridiculous? He tried to kill me with a sword from Amazon Prime!”

“I don’t even know what that is! But all the more reason we shouldn’t trust him!”

Jeno runs a hand through his hair, like Mark did when he was stressed. “We breed with them? Is this why we suddenly manifested pathic abilities?”

Hender stomps his foot. “The Guardian has always said that the people we share our prosperity with have shared their gifts-“

“Fuck the Guardian!” Jeno shrieks. “Think about it. It makes so much sense. And the government's been covering it up and all the hive leaders are in on it. It’s why we can’t breed by ourselves or start new hives without government approvals. It’s why-“ Jeno gasps. “Oh Zodin. Kun.”

“What is this Kun you speak of? Earth has really driven you insane that you’d believe some murderous stranger instead of in your people. In your hive.”

Jevo lets out a groan of frustration before looking up in realization. “Ten, you haven’t said a word.”

Waraten looks up from where he sat. “It is not a discussion that the likes of me should partake in.”

Jevo rolls his eyes. “Bullshit. You’re my caretaker. Speak.”

Hender looks at him in disbelief. “Zodin, you’re not the same Jevo from 2 clicks ago.”

“5 months. Try 30 clicks. Waraten, speak.”

Ten sighs and stands up. “I have often questioned why I was hiveless. And why the hiveless had to serve the hive crawlers. But I’ve accepted my role in the end. And now I serve the Kitars loyally. Perhaps, rather than accepting whether or not this is true. You should accept that, regardless of truth, your loyalty is to the people?”

Hender nods. “He’s as beautiful as he is wise.” Ten glares at him for that.

Jevo looks at them, disgusted. “How can you? How can you say that?”

Hender looks confused. “Because he’s beautiful-“

Jevo waves his hands. “Not that! Zodin almighty, give me the strength-“

Ten grabs his hand, sending him love through their connection. “Jevokitar please. Let’s just go home. I’ve missed you so much.”

Jevo’s eyes soften. “I’ve missed you too.” 

“Then come home. Please. We can ask the Guardian about it. We can bring the prisoner and he will show you the truth.”

And Jevo thinks about it. How nice it would be if Yangyang was a liar. That he was trying to mess with him. That the Somerians were not as evil as he says and that he wasn’t either.

But when he turns to look at the Kahin boy tied to the tree, so mentally and emotionally exhausted. So full of hatred and pain that shook him to his essence, he knew better.

“We bring him with us. But we tell no one.”

Hender’s mouth falls agape. “Are you goading us? How can we just not tell-“

“Deal,” Ten breathes, looking relieved. “Just come home.”

“Swear to me. Swear it on your essence.”

Ten nods and grabs Jeno’s hand and swears on his essence, his very being. 

Jeno is satisfied before turning to Hender. “You too.”

“No! Jevo, have you lost your mind-“

“I’m not leaving here until you swear.”

Hender pauses, looks at Jevo and then looks at Ten then glances at a tied up Yangyang laying against the tree looking like the definition of the word miserable. 

He eventually sighs and extends his arm out and he swears on his essence. 

“You are aware this won’t stop us from  _ actually _ telling.” 

“If you want to darken your essence, let that be on you. Who would be willing to trust you after that?” Jeno begins to walk back to where Yangyang was tied and the two Somerians follow close behind.

Jeno kneels down to Yangyang and begins to untie the makeshift ropes from Waraten’s waist sash. 

“I’m sorry,” he murmurs. “I believe you and I want to help but for now, just play along, okay?”

Yangyang glares at him. “How can I trust you?”

Jeno stares at him before touching his wrist. “Can you mindwalk?”

Yangyang shakes his head. 

Jeno gives him a little smile. “Here.” And with that he gives him his essence name. 

Yangyang lets out a little gasp before their eyes meet again. 

“Oh,” he squeaks.

When he’s free, Jeno isn’t sure if he’ll attack or not but he picks himself up and they stare at each other for a while. 

“Can you trust me?”

He sighs. “Fine.”

And in hindsight, he’d never realized that this was one of the most definitive moments of Yangyang’s life. This was how he’d redeem himself, how he’d love himself, how he’d make friends to last a lifetime and how he’d fall in love with the person he thought he hated.

Jeno extends a hand and Yangyang takes it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lmaoooooooo done. if u can guess the word order of the somerian language ill kisss u :D
> 
> if u guys dont mind telling me what u think about it in the comments or in my cc thatd be literally a dream come true !


	3. weddings and wars

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> jeno and jaemin have their own battles to fight. one metaphorical and one very literal.

“Jaemin? Jaemin. Jaemin! Ya, Na Jaemin! I’m talking to you!”

Jaemin blinks and shakes his head before realizing his surroundings. He must’ve dozed off or something. Quick, fuck, where was he? He was finishing up the color scheme for the title sequence and- oh fuck- is that his boss?

  
Mr. Kang was currently glaring at him and he smacks his hand down on Jaemin’s desk causing both Jaemin and his drawing pad to jump. 

“Jaemin!”

“Huh? Oh, yes. Hello.”

Mr. Kang gives him a furious look. “_ Hello _? That’s all you have to say?”

Jaemin grins sheepishly. “Sorry, sir. Had a late one last night.”

The man shakes his head. “Don’t do it again. I’d been calling your name for 2 minutes.”

_ 2 minutes? God, he’d been really tired, huh? _

“Yes, sir.”

Mr. Kang’s eyes soften and he turns to his screen. “You have the title sequence done then?”

Jaemin shakes his head. “Just got the color scheme down, working on shading and then I’ll pass it on to the animating department.”

His boss nods and pats his shoulder. “Proud of you. Not many 29 year olds have their own cartoon in the works by this point.” 

Jaemin glows with pride. He hadn’t ever thought he’d be able to script his own cartoon this soon. He’d been working with big companies here and there, animating other people’s characters until he said fuck it and joined a small indie company where he’d be allowed to have more creative freedom. 

He didn’t expect to have total creative control though, to the point where he pitched his 9 year idea at a casual meeting. They had laughed. Except for Mr. Kang who pulled him aside after the meeting and simply said: “Are you willing to fight for this?” The answer was so simple. And now a year and a half later, here he was, working on his title sequence. 

There was nothing that could make him happier.

_ Except for him, _his brain unhelpfully adds. 

He snorts. _ Well, that was a given. _

“Anyway, once you’re done. CC me the final product.” And with that Mr. Kang leaves him at his desk, still a little disoriented but fired up with a passion. 

He picks up his stylus. 

* * *

Yangyang lunges at him, fury in his eyes and arms outstretched. Jeno narrowly escapes his grasp before placing a quick jab to his stomach but Yangyang dodges. 

“You’ve been practicing,” Jeno notes. 

Yangyang grins at him. “Kiterender’s been giving me lessons.”

“Has he now?”

“He also wants someone to kick your ass.”

Jeno smirks. “Cute.”

Yangyang lunges again and within seconds, he has Jeno pinned down against the mat. 

Jeno’s eyes are wide and he looks up at Yang in wonder and amazement.

“Did you just- Did you just trick me?”

Yang’s elvish features brighten up and a giant beam encapsulates his face. “Smart, huh? I made you think there was something behind you and-ACK!”

Jeno expertly flips them over, turning Yang over on his front, and twist his arm behind him. 

“You didn’t deal the final blow though.”

Yang groans and struggles against his tight grip. “Not fair! I was explaining how I-”

“Rule number 2, don’t blab about your tactics to the enemy.” Jeno lets him go, knowing he was the victor.

Yangyang rolls on his back, pouting. “You’re hardly the enemy, Jevo.”

Jeno feels his heart melt at the intimate name. It had been cycles since he and Yang had met, planned and started a war together. With Jevokitar’s influence, he had exposed the Somerian empire and the United Intergalactic Quadrant’s dirty secrets to the Somerian public as well as the rest of Center of Life.

To say the fallout had been catastrophic was a _ severe _understatement. Hives began to take sides, the hiveless rose up in outrage and the now very aware children of the victims (the Wronged, as they were now called) broke free from their roles. A planet wide hunt sparked for Jeno and his supporters- which was a heavy sum. 

They were currently in hiding with some of the Kitar hive, including Waraten- or rather- Tekitar and Kitarender. The Ku hive had offered their support and sent their best medics due to Jevokitar’s revelation of Kun’s unfair banishment. It was mainly the smaller hives who had joined their cause but there were a fair few major hives, the biggest surprise being his own and- 

“Are you two quite finished quarrelling like a pair of Trunkbeasts?”

_ Ah, speak of the devil, _Jeno supposes. 

Deshaojun stands at the entrance of the makeshift training room, arms crossed and looking incredibly poised. Deshaojun was one of the highest in the Jun hive who were extremely prestigious back when it mattered. They specialized in engineering, specifically weaponry. The Empire had been no less than scandalized when Deshaojun stood with Jevokitar, pledging his allegiance to ending the cruelty of the Somerian Empire. 

_ “Our weapons were for fair and just warfare, not a one-sided massacre.” _ Jeno still remembers the way his words resonated with the people. And with half of the Kitar hive and a majority of the Jun hive declaring a civil war, many smaller hives felt as though they could use this chance to back influential hives in order to be protected after the war ended- if it ever did.

The rebellion had put up a good fight and were indeed a force to be reckoned with but Somer had allies that they simply did not. Deshaojun was working on getting them off the planet to rope in galactic support and transform this war from a civil one to one that concerned the whole Center of Life. 

Yangyang springs to his feet at the sight of Deshaojun, a stupid smile overtaking his face. 

“Hey!”

Deshaojun gives him a nod before turning to Jeno. “We need to talk.” His eyes flick to the Kahin boy before returning to the Kitar. “_ Alone. _”

Jeno nods before turning back to a disappointed Hisen. “I’ll be back soon, okay? Keep practicing.”

Yangyang pouts but turns back to practice the forms Jevo taught him. 

Jeno follows Deshaojun out of the room. 

* * *

“So, yeah, I’m pretty excited about that.”

Lee Donghyuck grins at the younger. “Ah, Jaem, that’s so good! I can’t wait till it comes out!”

Jaemin blushes. “Me too. Do you think he’d like it?”

The elder rolls his eyes. “What a dumb question. You know he’d adore it.”

Jaemin grins. “How is wedding planning?” This elicits a groan from the other. 

“God, I don’t want to talk about it. Do you know how fucking crazy Mark’s family is? They want a church wedding? I’ll literally burn the minute I cross the threshold.”

Jaemin snorts. “I’m just surprised it took this long for you guys to finally tie the knot.”

Donghyuck rolls his eyes. “Little bitch had the ring for a year before he finally stepped his pussy up.”

“You could’ve easily proposed first,” Jaemin teases him. 

“Are you kidding me? He’s the one who joked about us marrying 11 years ago. Follow through, bitch. I wasn’t gonna say shit.”

Jaemin laughs at that, squashing down the small spark of envy he felt for them. Donghyuck and Mark had the most fairytale love story. 10 years ago when Mark left for Canada, Donghyuck had broken up with him due to the 16 hour time difference. It had been a tearful goodbye with Donghyuck sobbing into Mark’s shoulder right in front of TSA check in. 

Donghyuck hadn’t been quite the same after that but he shouldered on, finding his talents in the medical field. So imagine his surprise when he runs into Mark Lee at the Medicine major department 5 years later. The younger had been _ furious _. Apparently, Mark had been there a whole 3 months and had told no one. Naturally, his first instinct is to punch him in front of the crowd of med students. It takes 3 males and one inexplicably strong female to separate them as Donghyuck screamed bloody murder while Mark looked nothing short of terrified. 

It had taken them a ridiculous amount of time to make up but they agreed to stay as friends and Mark explained that Canada wasn’t like he had remembered. He missed his parents and his hyung and most of all, he had missed his friends. But when he stepped foot in Korea, planning to surprise them, he had seen with a heavy heart that most of them had lost contact with one another with the exception of Donghyuck, Jaemin and Renjun. He said he felt really weird suddenly coming back into the picture and put off contacting them while focusing on his medical degree which is when he ran into Donghyuck with great shock. 

So for a good year or so, Mark and Donghyuck remained as ‘good’ friends until one drunken night where they fell into an argument that neither could quite remember the topic of. In fact, most of that night was a blur. The only thing both could remember was waking up crammed into Donghyuck’s shitty twin XL bed, wearing nothing but their birthday suits. 

Things had gotten awkward and uselessly complicated after that. Jaemin and Renjun had been on the receiving end of rants from both of them about each other. Finally, Renjun snapped and shoved them in a room together before screaming, “_ JUST FUCK ALREADY.” _ They _ hadn’t _ done that but rather talk it out and found that both were willing to retry a relationship. Flashforward five years later and Mark had proposed after losing his first patient on the table. He had been on his knees with the ring held in his shaky hands while tears streamed down his face, sobbing about how they didn’t have forever. Donghyuck had held him for a long time that night, not accepting the proposal until Mark stopped shaking. 

What Mark and Donghyuck had was something not many did. And Jaemin was jealous for it.

“So Mark’s grandmother is _ insisting _ on a choir just so Mark’s stupid cousin can sing for Jesus or something. I mentioned a beach wedding and she glared at me. Why can’t the hag drop dead alrea- What do you think, Nana?”

Jaemin blinks, feeling confused. “What? What do I think about what? Mark’s grandma?”

Donghyuck gives him a weird look. “Dude, that was like 5 minutes ago. I was asking if you think I should wear a white suit or a traditional black one?”

Jaemin blinks again, feeling disoriented. “Oh, I didn’t hear that.”

“You good, my dude? You’ve been spacing out lately.”

Jaemin nods. “Yeah, yeah. Just tired.”

Donghyuck narrows his eyes, a strange scary suspicion began to sprout in his head. He couldn’t be sure though. “Just get some more rest, okay?”

Jaemin nods and Donghyuck slips back into his wedding throes tirade. 

* * *

“What do you mean you can’t get us all off the planet?” 

Deshaojun gives him a cold look. “I mean exactly that. I can’t get us all off the planet. The ship can’t carry all of us. Some of us are going to have to stay behind.”

Jeno shakes his head. “Out of the question. If we take off without the rest, they could be found.”

Deshaojun nods. “Exactly. So, leader, what do we do?”

Jevokitar feels like he’s had the breath punched out of him. “How many can we carry?” 

“About 50 percent. 55 percent if we sacrifice some supplies.”

Jeno shakes his head. “No, they’ll crush us. How long would building another ship take?”

Deshaojun frowns. “At least another cycle. Stealing would be easier but its too risky. Our numbers are getting low.”

“Then we don’t have a choice. I’ll stay behind with the most of the soldiers and medics. You and Hisen with the rest will go.”

Deshaojun narrows his eyes. “Absolutely not.”

Jeno sighs. “I will hear no arguments about this. You and Hisen are the best chance of making an alliance. Take the Wronged and the non-fighters. We’ll hold them off as long as we can.”

“We are not leaving our leader behind!” Deshaojun snaps. 

“You are not leaving me behind! I am _ choosing _-”

“Bullshit!” 

The Somerians look up to see a fuming Kahin. 

“Yang-”

“Don’t _ Yang _me! You’re not staying behind.” 

“Hisen is right,” Deshaojun mutters and Yangyang prickles at that. 

“Then by all means, what should we do?”

There’s silence at that and Jeno gives them a look as if they proved his point. 

“Just admit this is the best course-“

“Only a few. We can’t divide our forces. We take the youngest, and a select representatives,” Yangyang declares.

Deshaojun gives him a dirty look. “You want us to use a giant war ship as a mere transport vessel?”

Yangyang reddens at that. “It makes the most sense! We can keep up the fight if we stay together. We take the Wronged, the younglings and Jevo.” At the engineer’s harsh look, Yangyang corrects himself. “Jevokitar, I mean.”

In other circumstances, Jeno would send the Kahin a teasing look due to his ridiculous attraction to the engineer but this was neither the time nor the place.

“I’m not leaving the rest of you behind! I’m the leader! What kind of cowardly leader would leave their troops behind just to escape!?”

Yang reaches for his hand with soft eyes. “You’re not doing that. You’re our best hope. You’re not a coward if you’re coming back.”

Deshaojun has one of those rare moments where his lips curl up and his intelligent sharp eyes glimmer with fondness. “Exactly. The last thing you wanted to do was fight but for a cause beyond your own, you rallied half of the Somer population to fight for justice. No one here thinks you’re escaping.”

“It’s not _ fair _. If we take off! The Empire will know exactly where we are. I’ll literally be leaving you behind to die.”

“Then we evacuate before you take off. We find a new hiding spot.”

Jeno was running out of excuses.

“I don’t- I don’t want to be alone.”

Deshaojun grabs his hand and gives his essence name in comfort. It feels like a cold breath of air, shivering down his spine. Deshao’s essence was as if fire had been dipped in liquid nitrogen yet kept burning amidst the lack of oxygen. 

Yang couldn’t do the same but he pours the fondness he feels for the Kitar into a single feeling and lets it flow through him. 

Since the fateful parting a few cycles ago, the very night he met Yangyang and left _ him, _Jevokitar allows himself to shed a tear- not knowing if this might be the last time he sees his good friends. 

Hadn’t he had enough of leaving his friends stranded behind on planets? 

Clearly not.

* * *

Jaemin is currently dry heaving into the toilet. 

He’s getting old. His liver couldn’t handle drinking like it could in his youth. 

Still it was strange. Last night, he’d drank only enough to get him slightly tipsy. Why was he vomiting so much?

Mark and Donghyuck had decided to have a shared bachelor’s party. Both had agreed they could do _ whatever _ they wanted with whomever they wanted. But after two lap dances from two _ very _attractive exotic dancers- “Call them what they are!” Donghyuck had shouted, “They’re strippers and that’s okay! Live your best life!”- the betrothed couple ended up having a very heated makeout session in front of everyone, disgustingly in love.

Jaemin had left a little early, needing to get up a little early to meet with the voice actors for his cartoon. It also didn’t help that he still felt that little voice in the back of his head telling him he’d never have that. His happiness flew up into the sky when he was 18.

Another gush of half digested bile, erupts out of his throat and makes a sickening sound as it plops into the toilet. 

Don’t get Jaemin wrong, he had more boyfriends after Jeno. Some that lasted way longer and had been more serious. But Jaemin ultimately found himself never as happy as he had been lying in his alien’s arms, looking up at this miracle of a person. His person.

Renjun has chalked it up to never being able to let go of the amazing fantasy he had found himself. Who else was honestly able to say they were dating an alien (sans Jaehyun of course)? But Jaemin thinks it ran deeper than that. He thinks he was born with only a limited amount of love to give and he wasted it all on one person.

_ Not wasted _, he chides himself. He’d do it again in a heartbeat. 

Another rush of bile spills out of his throat and Jaemin lets a sob wrack his body right after.

* * *

It had taken a few clicks but Jevokitar returns back with the gigantic war ship, filled to the brim with supplies and soldiers from other planets. They finally had the advantage and Yang had torn himself away from Deshaojun’s side to run straight at Jeno, holding him in a very un-Somerian embrace.

_ It’s okay _ , Jevokitar thought. _ We were never fully Somerian. _

He hugs him back in front of everyone.

And no one cared.

And in New Somer, no one would.

* * *

“Hey, handsome.” 

Jaemin grins at the smaller man.

“Hey, yourself.”

Renjun rolls his eyes. “I can’t believe it’s been so long since I saw your ugly face.”

“You literally just called me handsome.”

“I was being nice.”

Jaemin laughs and holds out his arms. “Fuck off and give me a hug.”

“In that order?” The elder teases but steps into the taller’s embrace. 

“How was America?”

Renjun sighs and pulls away from him. “Big. Don’t ever do book signing tours there.”

“Noted.”

Renjun had an interesting journey since high school. After his and Yukhei’s rather nasty break up, the two had parted ways, nearly breaking the friend group. They made up years later but after that Renjun became rather distant and began to direct his energy towards writing. No one had really saw it coming, least of all, Renjun, but the boy had some talent when it came to words. 

His second book, _ The Jade Necklace, _ became a massive hit in not only Korea but found its way over international waters. When asked about his sudden success, the boy had shrugged and said something along the lines of: “Murder mysteries sell. Murder _ romance _ mysteries sell even more.”

Renjun hadn’t really dated after Yukhei, he had tried having flings here and there but nothing really stuck and he had an epiphany one day.

They were drunk at a bar, celebrating Renjun’s fourth successful novel over some drinks, both men 25 years old at the time.

_ “I’m so happy,” Renjun had said, beaming into his scotch. “And for the first time, my happiness doesn’t depend upon another person. It depends upon me. I don’t need someone to complete me. I never really did.” _

_ “So you’re ace then?” _

_ Renjun shook his head. “No, just happy being alone. Society makes us feel like we have to be in love with someone. That were broken without romance. But, that’s not true. The happiest I’ve ever been is now and I’ve got no one waiting for me at home.” He gave Jaemin a big smile. “Romance is overrated. Love isn’t. But don’t mistake one for the other.” _

Another person he was jealous of. Check.

“Still happy and alone?” He asks as they link arms to walk into the church.

Renjun bumps him on the hip. “Yep. Still miserable over the alien?”

Jaemin lets out a snort. “Yep. But I’m turning my pain into art.”

“See, now that’s a true artist.”

“Just following the path of Van Gogh sunbaenim.” 

Renjun giggles. “It better not end in the same way.”

“Maybe I’ll cut my ear off, who knows?”

“Maybe you’ll be killed in your inn at night and everyone will blame your blatant murder as suicide.”

“Stop talking about your morbid conspiracy theories on my fucking wedding day.” Lee Donghyuck appears out of nowhere, faux-glaring at the author.

“No. And Shakespeare was a woman.”

Donghyuck rolls his eyes before surging forward to wrap both of them in a hug. “Glad you could make it.”

“You look so beautiful,” Renjun breathes out after they pull apart.

That wasn’t an exaggeration. He had a short veil on, pushed to the back, framing his face like shimmering mane. His attire looked as if he couldn’t decide whether to wear a dress or suit, so in Donghyuck fashion, he decided to say fuck it and wear a mixture of both. The entire thing was in bridal white, with a lacy silky top, adorned with small pearls and glitter on the collars and sleeves. The top was tucked into the simple white pants but attached to the back of the pants was a long lacy half skirt that didn’t cover the front of the pants. It was covered in pearls and intricate lacy patterns. It must’ve cost Donghyuck a fortune. 

Donghyuck looks so happy. “Don’t make me cry on my wedding day.”

“I shall make no promises,” Jaemin jokes before becoming serious. “Really though, Hyuck. You look so amazing. Has Mark seen you yet?”

Donghyuck flushes. “No. We’ve been taking turns hiding. Super cliche but I want him to breakdown when he sees me. My goal today is to make sure that fucker cries.”

“We all know the minute you see his dumb face you’re gonna burst into ugly sobs.”

“Stop this slander, ankle-biter.”

Renjun flashes him the middle finger and Donghyuck maturely responds by sticking his tongue out. 

Jaemin’s chest erupts a warm fuzzy feeling. His friends had aged physically but they definitely still bickered like the children they once knew each other as. Jaemin always felt young around them. 

“Are you nervous? Getting cold feet?” Jaemin asks. 

Donghyuck shakes his head. “I’ve popped this guy’s ass pimples. If I still wanted to marry him after that, nothing is going to scare me off.”

Renjun and Jaemin both wrinkle their noses in disgust.

“A simple ‘no’ would have sufficed.” Renjun says. 

“But where's the fun in that?” Donghyuck impishly grins. “Seriously though, I just _ cannot _imagine my life without him. I’m more than ready to marry the shithead.”

“Where are the rest of the losers?” Jaemin looks around. 

“Jisung and Yukhei are somewhere around.”

They don’t mention Chenle anymore. He’d gone AWOL after his graduation, none of them had seen him in 9 years. Jaemin suspects Jisung still talks to him but the youngest swears up and down that he hasn’t spoken to Chenle since junior year in highschool. No one blamed Chenle though, the entire Zhong family had disappeared shortly after Chenle’s graduation. The kid could be dead for all they knew but something tells Jaemin that the little mobster was hidden away on some private island, doing God-knows-what. 

“Anyway,” Donghyuck claps his hands, “vows are gonna start soon and after that we are fucking partying. Renjun, I’ll give you 100 bucks if you flash your nipples at Mark’s decaying grandma.”

“Which one is she?” Renjun immediately asks, eliciting a laugh from the two other men. 

Donghyuck leaves after a minute or so of chit-chat and the two friends take their place sitting down at their reserved seats. 

“Excited to give your best man speech?” 

Renjun grins. “I’m going to humiliate the fuck out of both of them.”

“You evil, evil little man.”

Jaemin gets a text and shows Renjun immediately. 

** _ceremony is starting. get ur asses in place uwu!!!!_ **

“Donghyuck still types like he’s on Twitter.”

“Donghyuck invented Twitter. Come on, let’s make our way over before he sends a meme or something.”

Jaemin’s phone buzzes.

“Oop! There he goes.”

They get into their positions and Jaemin finds it really cute that Taeyong had insisted that he’d walk down with Mark, instead of his parents. Mr. and Mrs.Lee hadn’t minded, knowing that Taeyong had been there to raise Mark when they weren’t. 

After Mark, Renjun and Jaemin had made their way down the pews before taking their places at the altar, Renjun by Donghyuck’s side and Jaemin by Mark’s. 

“Ready to get hitched?” Jaemin whispers to him as they watch Yukhei’s daughter, Mingyeu, tentatively sprinkle flower petals everywhere. 

“Honestly, kind of reconsidering,” Mark jokes as Mingyeu ran out of petals half way through the aisle and throws the basket down, beginning to cry as Jisung swoops in and picks her up. The pews erupt in laughter as Yukhei joins them, taking out the rose clipped to his suit and handing it to his daughter so she could finish her task. 

“You’ll be fine,” Jaemin reassures him as the ring bear, or rather ring dog, Mark and Donghyuck’s pug, Fatass (started as a joke and now he honestly didn’t respond to anything else), begins to race his way down the aisle, eyes on his owner. 

Fatass had a pillow strapped to his back with the rings tied down, so the jittery pup didn’t fling the rings anywhere but by the time the goodest boy made his way to the altar, the pillow had gone lopsided. It didn’t matter though, the dog was eagerly waving his tail and Jaemin picks him up to make sure he didn’t get himself in trouble.

“I know,” Mark breathes, just as Donghyuck appears, looking absolutely breathtaking as he begins to glide his way over, arms linked with Laura Jung. 

Donghyuck’s parents had refused to come, still unable to accept their son’s ‘lifestyle’ but that hadn’t deterred him. Even though it’d be officialized today, as far as everyone was concerned, Donghyuck’s last name changed a while ago. 

Jaemin glances at Mark, who looks absolutely _ enamored _as he glances at his soon-to-be husband, making his way down the aisle. 

It was usually so gross watching your best friend go moony eyed for your other best friend, but today Jaemin was just so happy. Moments like these were important. Moments like these reminded him true love exists and that it can be so fucking _ wonderful _.

Donghyuck joins Mark at the altar and they whisper something to each other before the minister clears his throat, beginning the ceremony. 

“Donghyuck, I- will promise to - you are my everything. I look- rest of our lives.”

Jaemin blinks. _ What the fuck, Mark? _ He looks around in confusion but no one else notices anything weird. 

Well, until someone screams. 

Correction, Donghyuck screams. 

Wait, why was Jaemin on the ground and why was everything shaking?

_ God, his head was going to explode. _

“He’s having a seizure!” Someone cries out, Mark maybe?

“Move him on his side!”

“Do we hold him down?”

“No! Someone give me a jacket or something- wait- the pillow!”

Jaemin feels something slide under his head. He wants to ask what was going on but he couldn’t he just felt like his head was going to erupt. 

“Call 1339 right now!”

His head. FUCK. HIS HEAD.

“Jaemin, listen to me, okay? You’re going to be fine. It’s okay.”

HIS HEAD. HIS HEAD.

Suddenly the scene changes, everything is white and everything hurts, fuck, everything hurts. 

“Why?” Jaemin croaks. 

“Oh my god,” Donghyuck cries out, his veil was missing and his mascara smudged. He was too bright to look at, his dress was too white. “Can you hear me? Jaemin?”

“Hurts.”

“Yes, shh, its okay. You’re in the hospital. You’re safe.”

Jaemin lets out a sob for no reason. Why does it hurt?

“Fuck, you-” Donghyuck starts to sniffle. “Fuck, god, what the fuck.”

“You okay, Jaem?” Renjun pops into his vision. 

He feels so bad. So bad. Why did it hurt?

“We have to give him a while. He was convulsing for so long.” That sounded like Mark. 

Mark. Renjun. Donghyuck. Wait, why were they here?

“Wedding,” Jaemin moans.

“Shh, forget the wedding. It’s fine- Doctor! Over here. He’s awake!”

But then he wasn’t. It stopped hurting. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lol dont hate me


End file.
